My wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, thinks that our microwave is jinxed. Actually, not the microwave, but the location in the cabinetry where the microwave lives, the microwave hole, if you will. The reason she thinks that the hole is jinxed is because the first microwave had a few problems and then lived a relatively short life. Then it took three new microwaves to finally get the original’s replacement. I do not believe that the hole is jinxed, but its history does not eliminate that possibility.

The first microwave in the hole did not last long. At least not in its original condition. It had a cosmetic flaw that my wife could not live with. After all, it was a new house, and everything, including the microwave, should be perfect. The handle was discolored and so the company had a technician come out and replace it. Unfortunately, the replacement handle got discolored too. The company sent a new handle, but The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi just decided to live with the discolored one we already had instead of making me replace it.

That all happened right after we moved into the house. I did not think that we would be having microwave problems again. At least not too soon.

We lived with the cosmetically flawed microwave for a few years and then when it really did have a problem, it just died. It worked like a champ for those years even though it had that replaced and defective handle. If microwaves had hearts, ours probably died because it did not feel loved because of its discolored handle. It was not worked to death, but died of a broken heart. Or maybe it died because of the jinx.

If the jinx did kill the microwave, the microwave hole certainly did not want a replacement. At least not just any replacement. Like I said, it took three new ones to fill the void above the stove.

The first replacement had a dent. It was not just a small cosmetic dent on the side that could be hidden. It was a huge dent in the case that made it quite misshapen. I doubt it would have even fit into the microwave hole. Unfortunately, I did not find the dent until after the old microwave was removed and I was already getting the new one installed. So we took the severely flawed microwave back to the store and had an empty hole where the old one had resided.

We lived with the empty microwave hole for over a week. (It was actually amusing because both The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi and I thought the microwave was open instead of just being gone. Our minds played tricks on us because we saw the back wall which in times of microwave living meant that the microwave was open. So several times a day, we each looked to close a microwave door that was not even there.)

The second replacement microwave was the same model as the first one. Thing 1 and I had it up on the wall ready to be set into place when I realized that it had a problem too. The second replacement microwave had two missing mounting nuts. We could not get the microwave installed. I was disappointed and figured we would need to wait another week until we got the third replacement.

Fortunately, the third and final attempt to replace the microwave was much quicker than the second. When The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi took the microwave back for a replacement, the people could not find the same model microwave we had originally purchased. So they gave us a more snazzy model for the same price. Thankfully, it went in without any problems. The third time was a charm. And it looks beautiful in its new home.

I am not in total disagreement with The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi that the microwave hole is jinxed. But I like a different explanation a little better.

The microwave hole had been happy with its malformed broken-hearted partner and did not want just any replacement. The unhappy microwave hole rejected any replacement for a time. Fortunately, it overcame its grief and we found a microwave it liked.

Whichever explanation is more correct, I am glad that we have a new microwave. Hopefully, the third replacement will satisfy the microwave hole’s heart or remove the jinx (because the third time’s a charm).